Abstract
Background
The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health urged that mental health services be transformed from a reactive approach of treatment to a proactive one of prevention and building resilience. In response, the present study delineates the role of resilience in reducing psychopathology.
Objective
The study examined the mediational role of resilience (positive thinking, tenacity and help-seeking), on the relationship between coping (approach and avoidance) and psychopathology (anxiety, depression, anger and aggression).
Methods
Adolescents (n = 719) aged 14–15 completed questionnaires assessing study variables in school settings.
Results
Mediation analysis using Structural Equation Modeling found that resilience factors mediated the approach coping–psychopathology relationship but not the avoidance coping–psychopathology relationship. Specifically, positive thinking mediated the approach coping–internalizing disorders (anxiety; depression) relationship; tenacity mediated the approach coping–aggression link; help-seeking mediated both the approach coping–internalizing disorders, and approach coping–externalizing behaviors (anger; aggression) links. Further, strength-of-mediation analysis revealed that help-seeking was a stronger mediator than positive thinking in the approach coping–anxiety relationship.
Conclusion
Approach coping works via resilience processes to bring about a decrease in internalizing (anxiety and depression) and externalizing (anger and aggression) conditions. Specific strategies to cope with these aforementioned conditions are: think positive for anxiety and depression; be tenacious when coping with aggression and seek help for anxiety, depression, anger and aggression. These findings lay the groundwork for resilience interventions.
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Notes
Preacher and Hayes (2008) show that difference between two indirect effects can be computed using the same formula as in simple mediation. Specifically, they showed that the ratio of (a1b1–a2b2) and its standard error (SEa1b1–a2b2) follow approximately normal distribution (z) as in the conventional Sobel test. Interested readers can refer to equations (34) and (35) in Preacher and Hayes (2008).
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Acknowledgments
Manuscript preparation was made possible by the first author’s NTU Research Scholarship, National Youth Council Youth Research Fund (NYC 9/97 Pt C), International Fulbright Science and Technology Award, and Yale Graduate Fellowship.
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Ng, R., Ang, R.P. & Ho, MH.R. Coping with Anxiety, Depression, Anger and Aggression: The Mediational Role of Resilience in Adolescents. Child Youth Care Forum 41, 529–546 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-012-9182-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-012-9182-x